Following on from our exploration of prayer, today's episode will be looking into the spiritual discipline of Study. The testimony that I, Amy, shared was found on Premiere Christianity: https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2018/September-2018/I-was-locked-up-after-the-London-Riots.-But-I-read-the-Bible-in-prison-and-everything-changed I also mentioned these books: 'Celebration of Discipline' by Richard Foster / 'Hinds feet on High Places' by Hannah Hurnard / 'The Chronicles of Narnia' by CS Lewis.

In this sequel, Amy and Manon continue their conversation by sharing the practices and tips that we personally have found helpful in deepening our own prayer lives. We look forward to hearing about your stories and thoughts on prayer. Do send messages, stories and poems to [email protected] or by leaving a message on the Anchor page. Note: I have encouraged the practice of the gifts of praying in tongues in this episode. I do not believe that all believers have/should have that gift but would love to see those who have it grow in it.  It this is a gift that puzzles you, I recommend this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzipsG3-S6A Helpful links and books: - Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, Wilder Publications, 2008.  or: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQS9mbXJ5UU  - Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives, HarperCollins, 1991, p.185-186. - Jackie Pullinger, Chasing the Dragon, Hodder & Stoughton, 2010. - Celtic Daily Prayer book https://shop.northumbriacommunity.org/product/celtic-daily-prayer-book-1-the-journey-begins/

Following on last week's episode we are now exploring the discipline of prayer. Joining Manon this week is a special guest sharing nuggets of wisdom and discussing prayers of thanksgiving, lament and petition. This is the first of two episodes that will be released this week. Look out for the second part that will be published at the beginning of the weekend.

Helpful Books and Links:

- Here is a link to the full story behind George Mueller's miraculous breakfast provision: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/church-history-for-kids/george-mueller-orphanages-built-by-prayer-11634869.html

- Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Zondervan, 2011.

- https://www.millendbaptist.org.uk/sermons

If you'd like to read more about how prayer works and what it means:

Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, Hodder & Stoughton, 2016.

In this episode we explore the danger of hurry and look into how Jesus' lifestyle teaches us to carve out time for God and live in the moment.

This episode was largely inspired by John Mark Comer's excellent book entitled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world, Hodder & Stoughton, 2019. The quote about attention spam is found on p.39 of his book and itself refers to Kevin McSpadden's article: "You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish," Time, May 14, 2015, http://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish.

James Bryan Smith's book called The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in love with the God Jesus knows, Hodder & Stoughton, 2010 is also mentioned twice (p.171-3, 181) and and well worth a read.

In this first episode, we explore the discipline of generosity.